This conference report has been contributed by Renata Goroshkova, St. Petersburg State University, Russia. Read her most recent posts here and here.

June 9 will definitely go down in the history of Dickens studies since it marked the first online large-scale zoom conference. #Dickens150, organized by Emily Bell, Loughborough University, and Lydia Craig, Loyola University Chicago, brought together nearly 200 participants from different countries and various career stages to mark the 150th anniversary of Dickens’s death. 12 hours of lively and encouraging discussions covered almost every aspect of Dickens’s life and work, with leading scholars sharing their Dickens scholarship and pointing out new directions for the field.  The event concluded with a fascinating talk with an incredible director, Armando Iannucci.

Clear and detailed instructions sent to everyone before the conference helped global Dickensians avoid missing the start time: even participants from the US and Canada showed up at the very beginning of the event, though it was still dark in their regions. A smiling Emily Bell welcomed guests, played nineteenth century music during breaks, and helped facilitate networking in breakout rooms in Zoom. Since you never knew who you would be paired with, these random networking sessions conveyed the atmosphere of a real conference coffee break perfectly. Concurrently, attendees were introducing themselves in Slack, where organizers created several topics to be discussed, including ‘new publications’, ‘help-desk’ (a channel where everyone could get help), ‘resources-teaching-research-funding’ (for sharing resources, ideas on teaching, etc)  and even ‘outside-my-window’ (for discussions that are not related to the previous: views from windows, gardens, dogs, cats).

Director of the Charles Dickens Museum, Cindy Sughrue started the conference with emotional words of gratitude to the organizers, who raised over £2800 for the Dickens Museum through ticket sales. She continued: ‘We’re supported by so many people from all over the world. We’ve been truly overwhelmed by such kindness and generosity. So, the spirit of Dickens is very much alive in 2020. Not just in this museum, but in all the incredible kindness and generosity that we all have seen during this pandemic. So, thank you so much for being here today, for this support. We’ve raised over 30 thousand pounds and that’s been a huge boost to sustaining us during this period of closure.’

The first keynote speaker Leon Litvack, Queen University Belfast, gave a timely presentation on how Dean Stanley plotted to bury Dickens in Westminster Abbey and The Times newspaper helped to push this idea. ‘Once Dickens had died, it remained to others to ensure that ‘the show went on’ and the ‘adulation’ continued’, said Litvack. He gave his opinion that we can effectively use the term ‘celebrity’ to describe Dickens: ‘I think that [Dickens] did use a lot of the same techniques as celebrities nowadays use in terms of their own promotion…but I suppose that one key difference is that in the 19th century people were considered celebrities because of things that they had done. In the 19th century you had to do something that was a benefit to society.’

Several research and teaching resources both old and new were presented for the benefit of Dickensians during this time of distance learning. Michaela Mahlberg, University of Birmingham and Viola Wiegand, University of Birmingham discussed types of direct and indirect speech in Dickens’s novels, and how their project CLiC Dickens helps reveal the motives of characters on a deeper level.  John Bowen, University of York, and Emma Curry, Victoria and Albert Museum, London illustrated how they have used Dickens’s drafts to reconstruct how the thought of ‘inimitable’ flowed: ‘It gives us a great deal of knowledge about Dickens’s writing practice’. Carolyn Oulton, Canterbury Christ Church University, introduced a useful resource for Dickens scholars – the Kent Maps Project – saying, ‘Playing on the site should be informative and fun. The site is still in process, so expect lots of updates.’ Editor of the VictorianWeb Philip Allingham shared the site’s history and outlined the main characteristics of this famous Internet resource, paying specific attention to the Dickens section. Katherine Kim, Molloy College, optimistically suggested that all participants take advantage of online teaching: ‘There are ways to use the situation to our advantage, because Dickens’s novels are well-suited for various online-activities. For example, we may combine modern technologies and culture with the original text…Projects like the ‘Our Mutual Friend Reading Project’ can be refashioned for online-courses.’ After describing the advantages of his digital platform, Dino Franco Felluga, Purdue University (General Editor of COVE) raised a long-overdue question: ‘Teachers at universities need to stop paying massive sums of money to commercial providers, platform and data-bases, that are designed as money-machines. Universities should invest instead in non-profitable open-access scholar-driven platforms and content data-bases.’ Attendees could also virtually explore the Childhood in Dickensian London Exhibition (by Tansy Barton and Leila Kassir, Senate House Library, University of London), or peek into a private library of the Dickens scholar, taking a tour of the film exhibition, ‘Dickens and Company’ by Jeremy Parrott. Both can still be accessed.

Presenters at almost every panel drew connections between Dickens and the contemporary situation in the world. Several leading Dickens scholars took part in the roundtable ‘Dickens and Contagion’. An unusual format of ‘Passage+Question+panel commentary’ provided eye-opening and enlightening discussions and ideas connected to the time of coronavirus. Lilian Nayder, Bates College said: ‘It gives contagion greater political power when it resonates metaphorically. It can then be used to dangerous ends.’ Sean Grass, Rochester Institute of Technology, developed this idea: ‘Dickens’s metaphors are more useful, perhaps, than our current metaphors.’ Natalie McKnight mentioned the spread of hysteria, the psychological contagion, evident in Barnaby Rudge, Bleak House, and Little Dorrit and other texts: ‘Even now, there’s more focus on physical than mental health: Dickens prefigures current attempts to balance this focus.’

The second roundtable ‘Futures in Dickens Studies’ produced one of the most thought-provoking discussions of the conference. Malcolm Andrews, editor of the Dickensian, also underlined the relevance of Dickens in the current circumstances. He said that community relationships were one of Dickens’s main preoccupations: ‘I am sure that this implication, connected to COVID-trauma and international antiracist movements, will touch Dickens studies.’ According to Andrews, the revival of the Clarendon Edition of the novels is considered to be the biggest major development in the sphere of ‘Dickensology’ since 2012. He continued: ‘Secondly, I am delighted to say about the continuing editing and publication of Dickens’s correspondence, which keeps us aware of the phenomenal range of his activities. There are 7000 letters which are going to be online on the Charles Dickens Letters Project, edited at the same standards as previous.’

Edward Guiliano, editor of Dickens Studies Annual, paid attention to both positive and negative trends in Dickens Studies: ‘This generation of scholars brings many more women scholars and critics to Dickens’s life and works, so, it brings new perspectives and insights. Plus, technology is bringing up new efficiency and discoveries…The continual globalization of Dickens in universities around the world will be a source of more interest and publications. However, the changing academy, including the decline of the focus in the humanities means that there are and will be fewer Victorianists, and subsequently fewer people writing essays and books on Dickens.’

Natalie McKnight, President of the Dickens Society, emphasized that the ‘inimitable’ is applicable to any epoch: ‘It seems that no matter what the current situation is, Dickens continues to be so relevant.’ She also explained why the humanities are in decline and how we can change this situation: ‘In the last 50 years we are writing to smaller and smaller groups of people. I really want to see personal approaches and more scholars writing for a larger audience.’

Dominic Rainsford, editor of Dickens Quarterly, thinks that what happens to Dickens studies will mirror what happens to the humanities and to the future of humanity. He would like to see more research on such ‘hot topics’ as space, animals, the material book, race, and gender. Rainsford also provided another key theme for expansion: ‘Dickens as a reader of Chaucer, Fielding, which hasn’t been touched on extensively before… There are still loads of facts to uncover and think about via micro-historiography.’ Most desirable publications for Rainsford include rigor and a personal dimension with emotional investment. Rainsford is inclined to the idea that our world is more Dickensian than Dickens’s world.

Pete Orford, University of Buckingham, gave a second keynote, ‘Christmas in Cloisterham: Dickens, serialisation and Edwin Drood’s terrible timing’. He stated that ‘We too often use our hindsight about Dickens’ death when we read Drood.’ Orford posed a puzzling question: ‘What if, like Tiny Tim, Dickens did not die? At least, not in 1870? How would we read this differently, in context?’  He further suggested that in Drood, Dickens is not attacking Christmas, but rather is using it to reassess his image of himself as a writer, to re-address readers’ expectations of him.

The presentations and lightning talks at the conference covered different Dickens works and  allowed for a new look at some literary genres. For example, Сatherine Quirk, Concordia University explained that Dickens preferred not to write plays despite the fact that his novels were perfect for the stage: ‘The initial critical reception, perhaps, contributed to Dickens’s own desire to distance himself from his attempt at professional writing for the stage. This dismissive treatment of Dickens’s plays gets more pronounced in modern scholarship’. Richard Bonfiglio, Sogang University, suggested that in A Tale of Two Cities physical transport is paralleled with affective mobility: ‘To be moved is to potentially be moved by others’. Jennifer Tinonga-Valle, University of California, Davis posed the question, ‘How do texts profit from nostalgia?’ She said that many events from Dickens’ recollection of his nurse’s stories find themselves transcribed into Bleak House.

A Q&A session between filmmaker Armando Iannucci and Lucinda Hawksley, author and great-great-great granddaughter of Charles Dickens was a wonderful conclusion to #Dickens150. The interview began with the confession that Iannucci had always been a huge Dickens fan (and even subscribed to The Dickensian as a teenager!) ’I started reading Dickens when I was 12-13. About 10 years ago I reread David Copperfield, and I was struck with how modern it was. There were things about pastand identity – what we call imposter syndrome. [David] is consciously thinking: ‘Do I belong here?’ It also struck me as someone who grew up with a bit of imposter syndrome myself.’

Iannucci then explained that no one but Dev Patel could have played David Copperfield: ‘Dev can be awkward and funny, but he can do drama, he can do romance, he can do charisma. In every scene for two hours we’ve got the great cast, but it stands for who is playing David. So, I could only think of Dev, and I met him, and explained what I wanted to do. And I’m glad he said ‘Yes’, because I honestly didn’t have a plan B.’

Which Dickens novel will be adapted next? ’I’m not sure about a film. I am not trying to do a kind of Dickens Universe. We might do like a stage version of The Pickwick Papers. Personally, I am a big fan of Little Dorrit. I love this book, but it is much more serious.’ Why did Dickens sometimes kill people in his novels? ‘People can’t divorce in his books, because that would be scandalous, that is why sometimes they just drop dead.’ About the cast selection: ‘I wanted to cast the best person for the part. And I just wanted to make sure whoever we cast for the part, I felt like I  could not imagine that character be played by anyone else in this film. And that’s how we did it.’ About new acting talents in the UK and the situation in the profession: ‘Especially for 4-5 years I think there is an extraordinary burst of acting talents from drama schools. There are a lot of amazing young actors and I don’t want to hear or read more stories of how they have to go to America to get fantastic roles.’

The online meeting for Dickens demonstrated that distance and boundaries are no longer an issue, and regardless of self-isolation, we feel a unity that can help us get through this difficult time. Despite the fact that many of us hope to see each other in the real world after the departure of coronavirus, some participants vividly discussed the possibility of repeating an online event like #Dickens150. For example, Pete Orford wrote in Slack: ‘What I particularly like is how Chat and Slack have allowed us to introduce ourselves, and everyone has a chance to make themselves known in a way that you wouldn’t normally get to do at a conference; also how there is the opportunity for additional chat through the day, so there’s lots of supporting platforms to build on discussions.’ Then he added: ‘I enjoyed the roundtable and the opportunity to speak to many scholars from around the world who wouldn’t normally be attending conferences but were able to attend online.’ Chris Louttit found only one disadvantage: ‘Only thing I’m having a slight problem with is keeping up with Zoom, live-tweeting and Slack.’ Michaela Mahlberg agreed with Orford’s ideas: ‘Even when we get back to ‘normal’ (whatever that will be), keeping some of the formats for us to engage will be good. Brilliant organization.’ Beatrice Ashton-Lelliott mentioned how challenging the process of organization might have been: ‘Thanks so much for a wonderful day Emily and Lydia — can only imagine what a logistical/technological endeavour this has been!!!’ Peter Ponzio assumed that even Dickens might be pleased: ‘Amidst the coronavirus sadness, it was so good to see so many Dickens conference attendees via ZOOM.  Thanks to Emily and Lydia for organizing the event and to ALL the presenters for taking the time to share their insights.  I’m sure the “inimitable” was looking down on the proceedings with approval.’

Thank you, Emily and Lydia, for this incredible event, which can be viewed in part on the #Dickens YouTube channel. And in the words of one of Dickens’s heroes I want to ask: ‘Please sir, can I have some more?’